Notes on the Council Meeting held January 17th, 2023
Meeting was held in person at Whiteside Taylor and was also offered by videoconference. These notes are an overview. The meeting and agenda, in its entirety, can be found on the Town website.
Questions from the public
Diana Wood (46 Birch Hill) asked about controlling the exterior lighting on many of the houses and mentioned the light pollution by same. Cllr Lowensteyn responded that this is one of the items being looked at in the bylaw reform process.
SPVM Report – Commandant Couture
November and December were very quiet months in the Town. There were no major events nor road-safety reports.
The bike cops are patrolling the parks, paths and woods on their “Fat” bikes and will be at Allan’s Hill on January 29th for the Town-sponsored Fat-Bike event.
The SPVM attended two events at Alexander von Humboldt Schule.
There was a reminder that citizens can contact the station at 514 280 0101 or pdq1@spvm.qc.ca.
Mayor’s Report
Mayor Ekvedt thanked Antonella and Megan for organising the holiday event on December 10th at the Red Barn which was well attended. She also expressed her thanks to Gillian Bennett and Keith Sulany for organising Christmas carolling on December 13th and 14th throughout the Town. Approximately 55 residents were present at the New Year’s Levee which was organised by Antonella, Megan and Cllr Tony Brown. Also, Julie MacDowall and Philippe St-Aubin were thanked for their preparation of the explanatory bulletin which will be included with our tax bills.
Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Brown presented a report on Rescue Squad activities (165 hours in December for an annual total of 5,217 hours of volunteers’ time). They provided first-aid support at the tree-lighting and holiday magic events. They also held their Christmas party at which time they donated $1,000 to NOVA and collected food for the On Rock food bank. On December 29th, the members participated in the search/recovery operation in the Roxton Road incident.
Cllr Gruber presented a report on the vCOPs recent activity. The vCOPs added 96 hours of patrolling in December to contribute to their 1,332-hour total of volunteer time in 2022. They assisted with the December 10th food and toy drive held by the Scouts and the Citizens’ Association at the Red Barn and delivered 17 Christmas dinners to Town residents. They also directed the parking at the New Year’s Levee.
Cllr Lowensteyn reported that the Junior Council would be holding their monthly meeting at the Library on January 24th at 19h00 and that their next Games Night would be on January 27th at 19h00 in the Library. The Junior Council used some of their budget to purchase new games – ones that do not travel easily and will be kept in the Library.
Cllr Bissada mentioned the Lunch & Learn program was back to in-person on January 18th and the Seniors’ Rendezvous would take place on February 16th at the Red Barn, for which anyone interested should contact Irene Perstinger at 514 457 5858.
Director-General’s Report – M. Bouchard has nothing to add that had not been covered in the Mayor’s and Councillors’ reports.
Administration
A mandate was given to Susan McKercher for support of our interim Town Clerk, Laurence Laflamme, while she fills in for Myriam Léger (who is on maternity leave). We would like to welcome Diane Boulanger to the position of receptionist at Town Hall.
Finance
The cash disbursements in December totalled $1,694,348.76 – this included payments of $855,000 for the Lakeview/Sunny Acres drainage project as well as $250,000 on the Fritz House renovation. There was also a transfer of funds authorised to cover the 2023 rent for the temporary Town Hall premises which will total $46,601.64 including taxes.
Citizen Services and Community Affairs
There were two recipients of grants for the Support for Excellence program, Jake Winlo-Houston was awarded $100 for his excellence in golf and Evandra Zlobec was awarded $100 for her participation in international artistic gymnastics.
A donation of $150 was made to the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence in memory of former councillor and long-term resident Brian Rogers and $150 was donated to Tele-Aide Montreal in memory of Denis Mavrias, father of our Public Works director, Nick Mavrias.
The annual grants to local non-profit organisations were approved totalling approximately $243,000. These included the library, the junior sailing program, the junior council, NOVA, West Island Volunteer, Abovas, WIIAH, Amcal, West Island Community Shares, Beaconsfield-Kirkland Ringuette Association, Lakeshore Minor Hockey, Baie-D’Urfé Citizens’ Association and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary Quebec.
The annual grant the Rescue Squad for the Antique Car show of $4,000 was approved.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:15PM